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Thread ID: 93964	2008-10-08 08:47:00	Stupid	hueybot3000 (3646)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
710812	2008-10-08 19:23:00	i get what you mean by makin you think but i would of thought alot more if we actually saw some widespread devastation. rather than some people with no survival skills at all And how do they do that on the budget they had? And most people don't have any survival skills. Most people run around in ever-decreasing circles panicking. The lame bit I thought was the diabetic guy who died in record time from no insulin. Its not that quick..........he would have had enough brains to not have that big meal first too.	pctek (84)
710813	2008-10-08 20:52:00	You may have noticed that it is possible to tell approximately where a person lives by their telephone number. Unless they've ported the number to another operator like Telstraclear Vodafone or Xnet. It's not as simple as the days of steam powered telephony :)	PaulD (232)
710814	2008-10-08 21:12:00	Does not matter if it is a new or old phone . When the power goes off the exchange continues working as all exchanges have batteries and the important exchanges have generators . There is also have mobile generators available if the power is expected to be off for a long period of time . Paul: The exchange batteries are not there as a back up, but they are handy for when the power goes off . While you can impress speech on AC current, DC is much better and much clearer so the exchange uses 50V DC for speech and 80V AC for ringing . (There is a capacitor in your phone to separate the two . ) While you might think that if DC is required, then why do they not just use a rectifier, but the power supply is not constant and not steady . The exchange uses the power to charge batteries which supplies the necessary DC steady current required to carry speech . There is only one supply of power needed for any of the exchanges which is the 240V AC supply . There are many exchanges all over the country and all over the main towns and cities . The main exchange in Auckland, is in Airedale St which is connected to at least 30 exchanges throughout the city . Airedale St is also connected, directly or indirectly, to all the other exchanges in the country . Most suburbs have their own exchange . You may have noticed that it is possible to tell approximately where a person lives by their telephone number . In Auckland, for example, if you have a number that begins with eight, you live somewhere west of Mt Albert . If your number starts with three, you are in Ponsonby, the CBD or Parnell . If your number starts with six you live in south central Auckland - Mount Eden or Onehunga . The first three numbers denote your exchange and the last four is your number . For example 630XXXX and 638XXXX belong to the Mt Eden exchange . Tell your SWMBO that all phones require power and if she licks her fingers and puts them across the phone wires she will experience a mild shock which should convince her . If she's not too keen on doing that, just short the contacts with a screwdriver and watch the sparks . Perhaps the reason she thinks that the old phone does not require power might be because she is now used to using a portable phone which needs to be plugged in to the power but that is, as well all know, for the transmitter and receiver, not for the signal from the exchange . Telephones and telephone exchanges are relatively simple (must be if I can understand them!) but like anything else, if you know nothing about them they can seem complicated . A humourous story: I used to work (in 1973) in what was then the new Mangere exchange . We often had women knocking on the door looking for a job as an operator . We told them we do not use operators any more . "But you need someone to put the calls through . " "No," was our reply . "The exchange is automatic which means it does it by itself . " Some were hard to convince that operators were no longer required . :illogical I hate it when people quote all of really large posts . . . :)	Thebananamonkey (7741)
710815	2008-10-08 21:14:00	Then why did you do it? :p	pcuser42 (130)
710816	2008-10-08 22:43:00	Aren't telephone lines and power lines on the same pole? If they are, R2x1 has a point . Phone lines carried on a telephone or power pole are extremely rare these days . About 99% are underground cables . The main area that you may see telephone cables (not wires) on a pole is in the countryside . They are a great temptation and are frequently cut down and sold for their copper content . :annoyed: In the days when telephone wires were above ground, they used their own poles . Usually, the power was down one side of the street and the telephone lines down the other . When they needed to cross the road they would use each other's poles . In new housing areas, power and telephone are all underground so no unsightly wires . In many older areas, the power may be above ground, but all the telephone services are underground on both sides of the road . There is usually a cable that runs up the pole and then an aerial, covered, wire that runs to the house . Our street only has the main power poles on one side with an occasional extra pole to carry it to the house opposite . In this case power and telephone share the poles but only for power line road crossings . Clear as mud?:)	Roscoe (6288)
710817	2008-10-08 22:45:00	Yes. So I guess that third wire on poles is an earth or something.	pcuser42 (130)
710818	2008-10-08 23:40:00	Yes. So I guess that third wire on poles is an earth or something. I'm assuming that you are meaning the power line's third wire. If that is the case then it will be an earth. (Or do you mean the cable running up (or down) the pole? If you mean the latter then it could be the telephone cable with a terminal at the top for feeding individual phones.) Telephones only use two. There was a use for a third wire at one time when they had automatic (two phone) party lines . One pair of wires from the exchange fed both phones for speech, so the other party could be heard if you lifted the receiver when they were speaking. Ringing was different. Only one wire was used to ring the bells (A wire for one party, B wire for the other) with an earth return, so neither party heard the other party's ring. (All exchanges have a large copper earth.) There were automatic multi (up to six parties, I think) party lines but these used coded rings in a very similar fashion to the manual party lines. Hope that helps.:)	Roscoe (6288)
710819	2008-10-09 00:09:00	Phone lines carried on a telephone or power pole are extremely rare these days. About 99% are underground cables. Telecom say that 90% of arterial cable is underground and 30% of service cable (to houses) is still aerial. Power lines would have Phases and a Neutral.	PaulD (232)
710820	2008-10-09 02:54:00	Telecom say that 90% of arterial cable is underground and 30% of service cable (to houses) is still aerial. Although it is fairly simple procedure to put underground the (two wire) feed to the houses, the feeds will stay as they are because Telecom is too mean and the customer does not want to pay for it to be put underground.:illogical	Roscoe (6288)
710821	2008-10-09 06:09:00	Although it is fairly simple procedure ......Telecom is too mean and the customer does not want to pay for it to be put underground.:illogical My neighbour has just switched to Telstraclear. The install took 1 outside guy all of a Saturday to underground the cable from the pole covered in ugly Telstra coax in front of our places and 2 guys about half a day to do inside wiring. All this without a contract. I don't know if that makes Telstra generous or stupid, the rest of the street is aerial to the house.	PaulD (232)
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